Tikka T3 light accuracy ?

[Csafisher]

I bought one in 7mm-08 last year. Worst shooter I have ever bought. Horribly inconsistent. I know a few other local guys that have the same problems.

After boxes of ammo, pounds of powder, and boxes of bullets it went to get a new barrel.
Rifle $525, new barrel $812. These are Canadian prices.

Bought a weatherby vanguard (cost was $400) for my gf. Out of the box cloverleaf 5 round groups. Hers is a 243.

Now these guns sell for $950-1300 and the new tacticool one is over $2500. Not a chance I would buy another

That's actually one of the VERY few poor tikka reviews I have seen. I love my CTR. Superb factory trigger, smooth bolt, and a pretty good shooter. Don't think I'll be buying any more Remington's.... maybe a 5r but that's it.

 

[lacajun]

My 5R is a shooter .5 with cheap federal 150's and a couple other factory loads.

 

[hometownhero]

Not every rifle produced by gun manufacturers is going to be 100% accurate.
More to my point, no manufacturing process is 100% accurate. There will always be a dud or two. It's all about the odds.
Tikka seems to produce rifles that have a higher % of being dead on accurate than any other manufacturer in its price point.

I am aware that they all can't be shooters but the few guys I know with them are not having the "one hole groups" more like 1-1.5 moa with the odd sub moa group when the planets align.

The prices that tikka command up here in Canada there are a lot of other options for the thousand dollars they want for a tikka.

 

[lacajun]

yes I am very skeptical...we will see when it arrives...but I will be happy if it shoots 1moa

 

[Mike 338]

I am aware that they all can't be shooters but the few guys I know with them are not having the "one hole groups" more like 1-1.5 moa with the odd sub moa group when the planets align.

The prices that tikka command up here in Canada there are a lot of other options for the thousand dollars they want for a tikka.

I have a Steyr. They're sorta known for their good accuracy. I was also getting mostly 1+ moa. It was a disappointment but before giving up on it, I did a primer test. That did it. I topped it with a old VX2 Leopold and it shoots like a match rifle. Sometimes the answer is yet to be found and sometimes it's just a dud.

 

[Barrelnut]

Older T3s has an aluminum recoil lug than would bend and or flex under recoil. The lighter caliber ones would often shoot good, but the big ones like magnums would bend the recoil lug and the action would move in the stock. So they did not shoot well, at least not for long. The newer ones, T3x or whatever it is, has a steel recoil lug. Supposed to be better. Basically you have a barreled action and stock with a recoil lug that fits into slots in each. I just don't know how durable that is in the long run. Guess a lot of smiths put a traditional recoil, sandwiched between the barrel and action, if you take one to be rebarreled which supposedly helps a lot.

 

[DartonJager]

I bought one in 7mm-08 last year. Worst shooter I have ever bought. Horribly inconsistent. I know a few other local guys that have the same problems.

After boxes of ammo, pounds of powder, and boxes of bullets it went to get a new barrel.
Rifle $525, new barrel $812. These are Canadian prices.

Bought a weatherby vanguard (cost was $400) for my gf. Out of the box cloverleaf 5 round groups. Hers is a 243.

Now these guns sell for $950-1300 and the new tacticool one is over $2500. Not a chance I would buy another

Im not trying to argue with you or change your mind about Tikka rilfes, and I can not speek to the T3 Lite's replacement the T3x, but six years ago my friend wanted my advice on his very first high powered center fire rifle purchase as he finally was going to start hunting out west. He also at that time didn't own a computer and had little access to the internet to visit websites such as this for advice.

I spent literally dozens of hours on every website I could find gathering data on sub $1000 rifles from Winchester, Remington, Marlin, T/C, Browning, to name a few and consequently I read HUNDREDS of rifle reviews on every sub $1000 dollar rile I could find solid information on in production at that time, printed out a great many of them and created a evaluation chart of sorts for all rifles being considered and in the end I recommended he buy A Tikka T3 lite. The over whelming reason I recommended a Tikka T3 was I read exactly ZERO reports or reviews that were SIGNIFICANTLY negative. They all said BASICALLY the same thing: Superb accuracy, great trigger, excellent if not unbeatable value for the money.

Yes there were some minor complaints about Tikka T3 lites such as concerning the rings holding up for heavier recoiling calibers, to short a magazine, you have to remove the stock to adjust the trigger, barrel not having a target crown, but none of the rifles in it's price range had fewer complaints, and none of the complaints I found had any bearing on it's abilities to do what it was designed for.

I know every manufacturer of all things mechanical or otherwise produce failures, and I can believe your T3 was one of them, but for as you said at least 2 or more of your friends to have bought T3's that all were lemons I find nearly a statistical impossibility based on I have NEVER heard of such a thing happening with T3 lites.

And even though my T3 is by far nor just the most accurate rifle I have ever shot, it is also with factory as well as quite a few of the reloads I have fed it thus far, I have a complaint, well kind of a complaint about my T3 Lite.

I found out that very light rifles like the T3 are considerably harder to shoot from the bench than heavier rifles and are much more affected by inconsistent bench form then any rifle (and I own quite a few) that I have ever shot. Use the same exact bench form and my T3 gives me absolute bug holes. I have an honest 1/2 dozen 3-shot 100 yard groups under .5", and yes I know most at this website feel 3 shot 100 yard groups are all but meaningless, but for me they are not.

BUT, let me be the least little bit sloppy or inconsistent in my bench form and my groups instantly open up to at or above 2". I admit this is a more serious issue with my Tikka VS my other rifles.

I'm sorry to here of your problems and I would send the rifle back to Tikka if you still own it, but your experience is IMHO in the 5 percentile or less or Tikka T3 lite owners results.

 

[Pdvdh]

Tikka rifles are a bargain amongst their competition in factory rifles.
They predominantly are great shooters. Would be tough to do any better on a cost basis with any other factory rifle.

 

[hometownhero]

They all said BASICALLY the same thing: Superb accuracy, great trigger, excellent if not unbeatable value for the money.


I know every manufacturer of all things mechanical or otherwise produce failures, and I can believe your T3 was one of them, but for as you said at least 2 or more of your friends to have bought T3's that all were lemons I find nearly a statistical impossibility based on I have NEVER heard of such a thing happening with T3 lites.


I'm sorry to here of your problems and I would send the rifle back to Tikka if you still own it, but your experience is IMHO in the 5 percentile or less or Tikka T3 lite owners results.

All the reviews I had read said the same thing. I got it on sale for $525. Shot it with the factory stock. No dice, put on a b&c that brought the weight up to 8 pounds. I have other rifles that weight that shoot great.
It went for a new barrel as dealing with sako up here is very painful process. I might have gotten it back in a year wit them saying nothing was wrong with it.

Everyone has bad runs of products. I think we got a few in the same bunch. Some stores here had to send back pallets of marlin's after the remington take over.

These guns now are new $900-1300 for the hunting models. I know a few guys that bought weatherby vanguards (myself included) for $400-600 and they shoot like hot ****. Got a few model 70 featherweights that are 8-9 pounds they were also $750 guns. Supergrade $1200 also shoots very nice its 9.5 pounds. Also had a few $300 savage axis' that shot well under moa.

We just got a few bad ones I am sure that there are lots out there that shoot excellent. But that was just not my experience with this one. For the $1000 they sell for here I would be looking elsewhere next time.

 

[Pdvdh]

$629 at Bass Pro Shops. Is your government the middleman that pockets the additional $371?

 

[hometownhero]

$629 at Bass Pro Shops. Is your government the middleman that pockets the additional $371?

Everything costs around double what you guys pay.
I seen guns for sale down there for $299 and they are $700 here.
Labradar is on sale for you guys $499. $775-800 here.

Powder is average $50 a pound without sales tax

 

[djfriesen]

Everything costs around double what you guys pay.
I seen guns for sale down there for $299 and they are $700 here.
Labradar is on sale for you guys $499. $775-800 here.

Powder is average $50 a pound without sales tax

I assume that's after the exchange rate?

 

[hometownhero]

I assume that's after the exchange rate?

Exchange rate, Usa export fees, import taxes, Useless whatever else fees and then store mark up.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

Exchange rate, Usa export fees, import taxes, Useless whatever else fees and then store mark up.

that rifle would feed a family of Inuits for a generation, and the taxes and fees will feed a family of bureaucrats for a few days.